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The Cartesian Split
A Hidden Myth
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Book Description
The Cartesian Split examines the phenomenon of Cartesian influence as a psychological complex in the Jungian tradition. It explores the full legacy of Cartesian rationality in its emphasis on abstract thinking and masculinisation of thought, often perceived in a negative light, despite the developments of modernity.
The book argues that the Cartesian creation of the Modern Age, as accompanied by a radical dualism, is better understood as a myth while acknowledging the psychological reality of the myth. The Cartesian myth is a collective dream, and the urgency of its rhetoric suggests that an important message is being left unheeded. This message may lead us to answers in the most unexpected place of all. The book brings forth the Cartesian myth in a new context and shows it to have potential meaning for us today.
The book will be of great interest for academics, researchers, and post-graduate students in the fields of analytical psychology, mental health, comparative mythology, and Jungian studies.
Table of Contents
List of figures
Preface
Epigraph
1 Introduction
The allure of the error
The split in the middle
Approaching the split
The complexity of complexes
Cogito ergo non sum
A complex offering
Outline of chapters
2 The initial sessions
Body as machine
Ecological crisis
Feminist challenge
Subjective difficulties
Over-rationality
Limitations in expression
Reduction and isolation
Pairs of opposites
The dominant paradigm
Old versus new
Heroic transcenders
Tragic transcenders
Charged images
First evaluation
3 The depth sessions
The great revolt
The ghost in the machine
The masculinization of thought
Cartesian disenchantment
The Cartesian mirror
The Cartesian theater
The turning point
The murder of the world soul
Further evaluation
4 Confronting the legend
The dawn of awareness
The problem of interpretation
The problem of caricature
The reality of the problem
Descartes’ dualism
The legend
The two worlds view
Critiquing the legend
Finding truth in myth
5 Ancient memories
Tales of the mirrored world
The first mirror
The dark mirror
The original split
The Gnostic two worlds
The chief archon
The splitting of the demiurge
A terrible world order
The first machine
Feminism and ecology
Solipsism and materialism
Gnostic transcenders
Summary
6 Psychological interpretation
Interpretation of the mirrored worlds
Becoming conscious of consciousness
Differentiation of opposites
Crossing the threshold
Mutual causation
The one world of certainty
The creation of consciousness
Death at the threshold
Interpretation of the split worlds
Gnostic consciousness
Atomic consciousness
Inside the split
The splitting of the ego
The splitting of consciousness
Modern dismemberment
7 Cultural memories
The Anglo-split
Anamnesis
A new look at olde times
Dismemberment on stage
The sudden shift
The splitting of ritual
The splitting of the play
The splitting of cultural consciousness
Faustus’s internal split
The residual memory
A penny for the Guy
Religious dualism
The splitting of substance
Substantial epochs
8 The alien text
Descartes’ disclaimer
The evil genius
Cogito and consciousness
Meditations on split consciousness
Internalizing doubt
The process of doubt
A singular truth
A single sapling
Inoculation
The one small part
The religious problem
Meditations on God
Divine substance
Mysterious substance
Altered substance
Altered meditations
Index
Author(s)
Biography
Brandon D. Short is a mechanical engineer with an interest in psychology. He holds a doctorate of depth psychology from Pacifica Graduate Institute. He lives in Portland, Oregon, USA.